Both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams head into a dual meet with undefeated rivals Harvard and Princeton this Friday and Saturday at Princeton’s DeNunzio Pool in what swimmers from both teams call an opportunity to evaluate their chances for the Ivy League title.

“We’ve been getting ready for [this meet] pretty much the whole season,” Ileana Lucos ’11 of the women’s team said.

The H-Y-P meet will be especially decisive for the women’s team’s standing in the conference, with all three teams currently undefeated.

Both Yale’s and Harvard’s women’s teams are 4–0 in the Ivy League, while Princeton has won three conference meets. Yale is the only team to have competed outside of the Ivy League, defeating Southern Connecticut and Vermont but dropping a close contest to Navy by only two points last weekend.

“This is the first time in Yale women’s swimming history that we think we have a shot at beating Harvard and Princeton,” Susan Kim ’10 said. “We’re all really fired up about it. They have some of top swimmers in the country, so this is a great opportunity for us to get out and race and see what we’re made of.”

On the men’s side, Harvard is ranked first at 5–0 in the conference with six wins and one loss overall, while Princeton has a perfect record of 3–0 in the Ivy League. Yale trails with one win and three losses in the Ivy League but a 3–4 record overall.

Diver Eric Olson ’11 said the men’s team was optimistic about its chances and was heading into the meet with confidence.

Collectively, Harvard, Yale and Princeton have won every men’s Ivy League title since 1988.

Susan Kim said the women’s team spent the past weekend focused on the upcoming meet. Almost a month into its season, the team sees this meet as a checkpoint, she said.

Lucos said the team has spent the week focusing on the little things, like shaving time off their turns off the walls, to earn the small points that could drive Yale to victory in the event. She said this focus would help correct last weekend’s mistakes against Navy.

The women’s team last claimed the Ivy League title in 1996, while the men’s team shared the title with the Crimson in 1993.

Comments

robert99

Yale men’s swimming last won when the current crop was, what, 2 years old?
Used to be that Yale men’s swimming last lost when the then current crop (1962)was 2 years old.